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Officials said Clifford's conviction represents the end of a cat and mouse game between Clifford, law enforcement, and the fulfillment of a major campaign promise from State’s Attorney Marilyn J. Mosby to bring Clifford to justice.

"The nature of the crimes Clifford has been accused of and the sheer number of times he has been accused of committing them is staggering," Mosby said.

Clifford's history of predatory behavior started in October 1997, when he was 18. Clifford plead guilty to second-degree sex offense after he sneaked into a sliding-glass door, and forced a woman sleeping next to her child to the basement where he sexually assaulted her at knife point. He was sentenced to 10 years.

He also pleaded guilty to first-degree assault, first-degree burglary and robbery with a deadly weapon after breaking into another woman’s home, where he tried to stab her several times with a screwdriver. For that crime he was sentenced to three years, to run consecutively with the sentence of 10 years.

After Clifford’s release in 2007, he allegedly committed nearly a half-dozen sexual offenses, four of which he was found not guilty. At each trial, despite DNA evidence linking him to his victims, he was acquitted after taking the stand and claiming the sexual contact between him and his victims was consensual.

Clifford's testimony relied on the fact that his past convictions and charges would be shielded from the jury. Juries were barred in every case from hearing testimony from Clifford's previous victims, offense learning that Clifford was a registered sex offender during the commission of each crime and that he was charged in multiple cases with first- and second-degree rape and/or sex offense.

Six months after his release, as another woman was asleep in her apartment, she spotted Clifford naked, wearing only sneakers, climbing through her window. The victim in that case woke up to find Clifford lying on the floor next to her bed. When she tried to escape, Clifford forced her to lie down. He then tied up her hands with a belt, started to fondle her, and continued to sexually assault her.

Once the attack was over, the victim freed herself and immediately called 911. When Clifford stood trial earlier this month for that offense, he was already a registered sex offender. On May 8, after a four-day jury trial, Clifford was convicted of two counts of third-degree sex offense and theft.

"There is no room for hope when you’re prosecuting these types of cases. Victims of sexual assault are suffering in Baltimore and across the state because of a lopsided law that allows defense attorneys to bring up a victim’s past sexual history, but does not readily allow the introduction of prior transgressions of the accused," Mosby said. "We cannot allow serial rapists to deny their crimes in the face of DNA evidence and make a mockery of our justice system."

"We hope that this sentence will bring some measure of peace to the defendant’s victims in these two sexual assault cases, as well as to the six other women whom he has preyed upon. The defendant has spent the past 15 years of his life breaking into the homes of women, sexually assaulting them and then lying to city juries that the women all traded sex for money or drugs. Fortunately, this last jury finally saw through this offensive and humiliating tactic," Halverson and McAllister said in a statement

Mosby has fought for legislation in Annapolis for the past two years to bring the "consensual sex" defense to an end by bringing the Maryland Rules of Evidence in line with federal rules. Under Federal Rule 413, evidence of other sexual assaults is admissible in a criminal trial in which the defendant is charged with sexual assault. Similarly, Federal Rule 414 permits the introduction of evidence involving a past sexual molestation in cases involving sexual abuse of a child.

Several states have already followed suit, and Mosby believes that it is time for residents in Maryland to have the same protections.

"Today's sentencing was achieved in the face of seemingly impossible odds. We need legislation to change our criminal justice system. We cannot afford to try a serial three, four or five times ever again. Too many lives are at stake," Mosby said.